Kasim and Rizwan are two sides of the same coin. Discuss.

Kasim and Rizwan are two sides of the same coin. Discuss with close reference to the story Hunger by Nasira Sharma. Or, Rizwan and Kasim represent different strata of the society but are bound by the same pangs of hunger and struggle for existence. Discuss this in the light of Nasira Sharma’s story ‘Hunger’.

In Nasira Sharma’s story ‘Hunger’ the two characters Kasim and Rizwan are actually the two sides of the same coin in terms of their poverty and hunger. The story starts with Rizwan wandering in the crowded market area and looking for a man who worked for a living but not a shop-owner. Then he stops a man named Kasim and starts taking an interview for his job.

During the interview we come to know of Kasim’s poverty. He earns only five hundred rupees a month from his rag-selling business. His father earned a living by physical labour. He wants to take his four-year old son into his business the next year. Sending him to a school would not make any gain for him. Kasim even has no permanent home. But strangely enough he does not have an ambition for a better living. When Rizwan suggests him to take a bank loan to start a good business or take help from the government, he is not interested. Actually due to his ignorance, he is cheated this way before.

But the real shock comes when we come to know that Rizwan himself is very poor and has not had any food since the morning. His father had died years back. His brothers were forced to drop out from school. His mother is ill at home. Now he is looking for a job so badly. In spite of his education, he has not been successful to get one. And his interview of Kasim is the first one of the five interviews he needs to submit to the local Kihaan newspaper office to secure the job they have promised. When Rizwan reaches the newspaper office, he writes his own name and address on Kasim’s interview, as Kasim had no such address. Moreover, his own poverty was similar to that of Kasim. They were the two sides of the same coin.